The Ripple Effect
by realfanficts
Summary: How much difference can one person make? More than you might think, even if they are perfectly normal. And if they aren't, how much further does their influence spread...? A story in the Allies and Enemies Universe
1. The First Domino

**A/N:** Though this is classified as a Teen Titans fic, the central character is going to be my OC, Elm. The Titans do play an important role, but they are not the focus. The whole story is only part of a larger plot cooked up between ThSmaurai, Maiden Samurai, Korianderstar and myself, involving OC's we each created on our own for other purposes.

**DISCLAIMER:** this is for any future encounters with the Titans, which I do not own. I also do not own any characters other than Elm and minor characters exclusively associated with him. I don't even own the larger story, as I implied already. However, I do claim the creative rights to this portion of the plot.

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**The First Domino**

"What is it sir? I know I'm not in trouble, so why am I here? If you don't mind, I'd like to get this over with quickly; I need to get back to class."

The principal didn't answer right away. He just sat there behind his polished, mahogany desk, staring at her sadly with a sad smile fixed on his face—or was that a trick of the sunlight slanting through the medium-sized window placed on the far wall?

No matter. It still unnerved her, and she sat on one of the blue cushioned chairs, its back to the newly re-painted white wall, and facing the desk. She didn't bother to remove her backpack. In a slightly quavering voice this time, she asked again, "Sir, why am I here?"

This seemed to snap the principal out of his trance, as he sat up strait in his stiff-backed, wooden chair. He blinked, cleared his throat a couple of times, and responded.

"Carolyn, I don't know how to break this to you gently, but…" he paused, sighed heavily, then continued, "your brother, it seems, well…" he trailed off, then blurted it out. "he and your mother were killed in an automobile accident on the way to his dentist appointment." He slumped forward, removed his glasses, and covered his eyes, not bothering to pick up the pile of folders he'd accidentally brushed off onto the floor.

Carolyn, meanwhile, had the look of someone hit over the head with a two-by-four—stunned, to be precise. Her mouth opened and shut several times, but no sound came out. Her eyes were as wide as saucers.

However, she recovered quickly. "S-sir, is this a prank?"

"I wish it was. I really do," came the reply, muffled by the hands covering his face.

She sat there for a few moments, then almost without thought, Carolyn fled the office, her eyes blurring with the beginnings of a river of tears. She ran down the hallway, shoes squeaking on the floor as she passed a line of lockers. She crashed through the doors, which barely slowed her headlong flight. She raced through the parking lot and down the street, not even seeing the traffic. Somehow she made it home, where she fumbled to unlock the door. Once inside, she raced upstairs to her room, where she flung herself on her bed and sobbed herself to sleep.

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"_Carolyn?" She looked up from stuffing books in her pack, absently blowing a stray lock of strawberry-blonde hair away from her eyes._

"_Yes?" She barely reacted in time as something came flying at her head, reaching up instinctively and snatching the projectile before it made contact with her nose, a projectile that turned out to be…car keys?_

_She sent a questioning look at her brother. "Are these the keys— to your car?"_

_He nodded somberly. "I thought you might like drive it to school today. Mom's driving me to the dentist, so I won't need it."_

"_But—" her mouth opened and closed like a fish, nothing coming out._

"_Also, in the console, you'll find something for you. I think you'll like it."_

_She frowned at him, and when she'd finally found her voice said, "All right, who are you, and what have you done with my brother? He's always nice, but the one thing he never, NEVER did was let me drive his car."_

He chuckled (halfheartedly) at the joke. "Am I not allowed to change my mind once in a while? Besides, I think you've earned it." He smiled, but it looked almost forced. She barely noticed, lost in a world of glee.

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When she woke, it was dark outside, too dark to see without some sort of light. But as she crossed the room to hit the switch, she sensed she wasn't alone. She heard breathing!

She pretended not to notice, wiping her eyes on her sleeve and slipping her hand behind the desk next to the wall, gripping the baseball bat she kept there.

All of a sudden, she flipped the switch and whirled, her weapon aimed threateningly at the intruder's head.

"What are you doing in my house?" she demanded, then gasped as she recognized the disoriented read-headed boy in front of her. She shook her head, trying to deny it, but…"Carl? But I was told…" she could go no further, and embraced him, eyes weeping for an entirely different reason.

"That I died in a car crash?" he finished for her, stuffing the remains of a sandwich into his mouth, dropping the curious staff he held in one hand, then returning the hug, resting his chin on the top of her head. She nodded, still unable to voice a single syllable.

"I'm sorry you had to be put through that, sis. I wish it could have been different, but it was necessary."

"Necessary?" At that word, she released the death grip she had on her brother and backed away, wiping her face with a sleeve and narrowing her eyes. "_Necessary_?" she repeated in a quiet hiss. "Do you have any idea what I felt when I was told you died?!" she shouted. "And then you go and tell me it was 'necessary!'" Her hands were clenched so tightly that her nails threatened to draw blood from her palms, and she was seriously considering giving him a good, resounding slap across the cheek.

"Please, sis, I didn't want it this way. You have to believe me!" he pleaded. "It was to protect you. To protect all of us!"

Carolyn's rage visibly transformed to confusion on her face. "What?"

"Listen carefully. You must NEVER reveal to ANYONE that I'm still alive. Not even Dad." He bit his lip. "I wasn't even supposed to tell you."

"But why?" He shook his head, refusing to answer, and turned to leave. "Oh, and Mom isn't coming home, either. She'll be coming with me." He picked up his staff, and it shone with reflected light.

"But, w-why do you have to go? Where are you going?"

He turned back toward her. "I'm not supposed to tell you…" He trailed off, shaking his head in resignation, and spoke again. "But then again, I shouldn't have been here in the first place. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose." He grinned and began his explanation. "For some time now, I've been part of a top-secret research program, and, well, let's just say that if you hear news of a new hero on the street, you'll know I'm alive and well." And with those words, he walked over to the window looking out on the dimly lit street, and vanished before her eyes.

She blinked, then rushed over to the window and peered out. Carl was standing on the street, waving at her, then he turned and vanished once again.

That was the last time she saw him for a long, long time.

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Excerpt from Elm's journal (no date specified for any entries)

"_You're joking, right?" I was addressing the two men sitting on the couch in front of him._

"_No, sir, we're not," said the one on the right. If they were uncomfortable that I was towering over them (at 5 feet, eleven inches I tended to do that a lot) and refusing to sit myself, they didn't show it. They were perfectly calm. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that though I was tall, I had a thin build, whereas they were a bit on the hefty side._

_I stared at them, still not sure if they were entirely serious. They said they were from the Federal government, and that they needed me for some kind of special project. They certainly fit the part, dressed in black suits like the ones those agents from "Men in Black" wore, right down to the ties on their chests and sunglasses on their face._

_I suppose I could give them the benefit of the doubt. "All right, I suppose. But if I do this, what do I get for it?"_

The one on the right (he seemed to be the spokesman; the other one just sat there the whole time) took off his glasses, looked me square in the eye, and said, "Frankly, sir, we are not allowed to tell you more than this. If we are successful, you will have power, power to do as you see fit."

_I raised an eyebrow, and briefly glanced my mom sitting on the green chair behind me. When I returned my attention to the agents, I answered. "Could you give us some privacy? I'd like to talk to my mom for a moment." They nodded, so my mom and I left the room to confer._

_I looked at her again. "I'm not sure about this, dear. What if they're lying?"_

"_But Mom, what if they're telling the truth? I could really help people." I turned my gaze toward the other room. "I know there are risks, but…life is full of risks." I looked back at her._

_She gave a rueful smile. "OK, I'll let you do it; but, only if you let me come too. You need a chaperone."_

"_Oh, Mom!" I groaned and rolled my eyes, but not really meaning it. I gave her a hug. "I suppose, if you must…" I added, releasing her. She put her hands on her hips and gave me a mock glare. I grinned unrepentantly._

_"All right, let's go tell them." And so we did, oblivious to the series of events that simple act would set in motion, comparable to tipping the first domino in a chain._

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**IMPORTANT NOTE! **Anyone who wants to bring the Teen Titans back, there's an important link in my bio concerning just that. Clicking on that link will take you to a petition that asks for their return! **And spread the word!** Put it in YOUR bios, tell people in your reviews, let them know about it in your author's notes, and tell your friends about it!


	2. Raindrop on the Pond’s Surface

**Disclaimer:** see chapter one

Dedicated to my first reviewers for this story, Maiden Samurai and ThSamurai

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**Raindrop on the Pond's Surface**

Alexandra Abbot hurried down the dark, dimly lit street, anxious to be home and out of the cold. She wore a knitted cap on her head, hiding her brown curls, and mittens on her hands. She was bundled up in a dark coat two sizes too big, and she could see her breath every time she exhaled. In each hand, she carried a plastic bag full of groceries, from the grocery store one street over.

But she was not as alone as she thought. As she passed a dark alley, she heard footsteps start up behind her. She stopped to glance back, but did not see anyone. Shivering from more than cold, she resumed her pace, picking up her step. The footsteps resumed as well, and sped up as she did. She glanced behind her again, and this time saw a looming figure not five feet behind her. She broke out into a full run, but was tackled to the sidewalk before she took two steps, and her groceries flew everywhere. Immediately she began struggling against her captor, but to no avail. Whoever it was had her in a grip of iron. "Help!" she cried, but that was all she got out before the person whipped out a knife and put it to her throat, telling her to be quiet "or else." Whoever it was let her go, keeping the knife where it was, and ordered her to get up. Silently, she complied, and obeyed his unspoken command to walk toward the alley.

Just as they reached the alley, another person stepped out, bringing her assaulter to a halt. "Who're you?" he snarled. The new figure just blinked. "Speak up, 'less you wanna be carved up like a roast." This brought a response, but not the one he was looking for. In a blur of speed, the figure whipped a staff out from under its cloak, disappearing and reappearing behind him. Before he could react, a blow to his temple knocked him out cold.

Alexandra stared, first at her savior, then her attacker, then back at her savior, who finally spoke. "Ma'am? Are you all right?" The deep bass voice startled a response out of her, and she quickly nodded. "Y-y-yes, I am," she stuttered out. He (with a voice like that, it had to be a man) smiled at her reassuringly, and walked over to where her groceries lay scattered. Numbly she followed, watching as he put them back in the plastic bags, and taking them as he handed them to her. Finally she found her voice, blurting out, "Who are you?" He looked thoughtful for a moment, tilting his head slightly to one side. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for his response. Finally he said, "You can call me Elm, ma'am."

Instantly she took charge of the situation. "Well, Elm, nice to meet you." She set down one bag to offer her hand. After a moment's hesitation, he took it. "I'm Alexandra Abbot, but you can call me Alex." She had a firm handshake, which seemed to reassure him a little. "Yes, ma'am—I mean, Alex," he replied, letting go of her hand.

"By the way," she said, "thanks for saving me."

He looked down at his feet, shifting back and forth. "It was nothing, m—Alex."

"Nonsense. Not everyone could have done that, or would even be willing to try. Now, is there anything _I_ can do for _you_?"

He looked up again, opening his mouth to protest that in fact, he didn't need anything, but was interrupted by a loud growl filling the air. He glanced down at his stomach, sighing and shaking his head.

"Tell you what, sounds like you could use a good meal. Come with me." At that, she picked up the bag again and started on down the street, Elm meekly following her.

It wasn't long before they reached her house. And yes, it was a house, not an apartment. The small gate in the surrounding fence opened onto a short little brick walkway that led up to the porch, which in turn had three cement steps leading up to the wooden door. Absently handing Elm one of the bags, she fumbled for a moment in her right coat pocket. "Aha!" she exclaimed, bringing out a key ring with several keys (what else would there be?) attached. They tinkled softly as she searched for the right one, and as she inserted it in the lock. She turned the key until there was an audible click, then removed it and put the ring back in her pocket. She opened the door and walked in, gesturing for him to come in as well. He shut the door behind him as he did.

"Brian, I'm home!" she called, pulling off her coat and hanging it up on the rack to the right. Instantly the pounding of feet was heard, and a little boy raced into the room. "Mommy!" he exclaimed, and in a blur of motion, he rushed Alex, who bent down to catch him. He wrapped his arms around her and she picked him up, returning the hug he gave her with a kiss on his cheek. For several long moments, she just stood there holding her son, smothering him with kisses. Finally he'd had enough and started protesting, so she set him down and lovingly ruffled his dark brown curls. "Brian, I want you to meet someone," she said sweetly. She turned to Elm, and the boy looked at him curiously.

"Hello," he said, walking over to the tall stranger and looking up underneath the hood. Elm set his staff in the corner next to the coat rack, then reached up to pull back the fabric covering his head, revealing short, vivid red hair, made all the more so by the streaks of pure white running through it. He kneeled down to put himself at eye level with Brian. When he looked into the boy's grey pupils, it revealed another curious aspect to the child and his parent—though his left eye was the deep blue of a summer sky, the right was green as an emerald.

He grinned at Brian and returned his greeting. "Hello. Did I hear your name is Brian?" The boy nodded. "My name is Elm. Glad to meet you."

"Me too."

Alex interjected at that point. "He saved me on the way home. He's a hero."

Brian's eyes grew as big as saucers, and began a series of nonstop questions. "Really? A real hero? What powers you got? How many people you saved? How many bad guys have you stopped? Do you know the Teen Titans?"

Elm tried to keep track of the questions, absently holding up a hand when Alex moved to quiet her son. Most of them went right past him but…"Who are the Teen Titans?"

This started another flurry, as Brian explained in his own way. "They're the greatest heroes ever! They have powers, and they use them to help other people. Oh, and they're kids like me! I bet they don't have to go to bed when they're told."

Elm chuckled at that last statement and agreed, then looked up at Alex, clearly asking for further clarification. "They're a team of teenage superheroes who live on the coast of California. Their names are Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg, and they protect Jump City, along California's coastline. If you want to know any more, you'll have to ask him." She gestured at Brian.

Elm didn't even have to ask, as the boy began to elaborate on the subject. "Robin doesn't really have any powers, but he's a super ninja, with a staff and lots of cool stuff. Starfire is an alien who is really strong, can fly, and shoots green lasers from her eyes and hands. Beast Bay can become any animal he wants…I wish I could do that. I want to fly! Oh, and Raven is, um, a witch. She uses this black stuff to pick up and throw things at bad guys. And Cyborg is a robot! Well, not all robot. He's part human, part robot. He's also really strong, and shoots this blue light out of his arm."

Elm whistled. "That's some team of heroes. I'd like to meet them someday…"

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_I remember the conversation so clearly, it's like it was yesterday. I can't remember any other details, other than the fact that I was walking up to the door. I don't even recall why I was there. However, I do remember that when I heard voices behind it, I tiptoed the rest of the way to that door and put my ear up against it._

"_Our tests show that he does have potential, Ma'am, but from monitoring his brain activity, it's dormant under most conditions. From what we've seen, there's only one thing that brings it out."_

_My eyes widened when I heard the soft voice of my mother speaking. "And what would that be?"_

"_Apparently, the only time it's active is when he's physically in your presence. I don't understand it."_

_Silence was all that I 'heard' from the room for several seconds. Then my mother spoke up again. "Well, that's not very practical, is it? You need to come up with a way to unlock it. He'd be heartbroken if you didn't—he's always dreamed of having the power to help others. And I can't be around him twenty-four seven."_

_Again silence filled the room, this time for a much longer period of time. "I can't, can I?"_

_We had no idea…_


	3. Shadows Past, Shadows to Come

**Disclaimer:** see chapter one

**Dedication**: Tsukikage1213 (formerly Maiden Samurai, formerly RoseRed2.0) and ThSamurai, who so far have been my only reviewers. Merry Christmas, you two!

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Shadows Past, Shadows to Come 

Brian watched with eyes the size of the dinner plate in front of him as the stranger known as Elm devoured his third (large) helping of spaghetti, with no sign of slowing down.

By the end of the fourth serving, his chin had followed suit, dropping nearly to the level of the table, though it did take Elm a little longer to finish that one, and the fifth was his last, evidently, as he sat back in his chair and patted his stomach with a contented sigh.

"Thank you, Alex. It's been a little while since I had a proper meal."

She smiled, brushing off the compliment with "It's the least I could do."

Brian's face had returned to normal, only to transform into a puzzled frown. "Mom, he called you Alex. You n-"

"I think it's time for you to go to bed," she interrupted, not allowing him to finish the sentence. He protested that he wasn't tired, clearly fighting back a yawn as he said so. She folded her arms across her chest and stared pointedly at him.

"But I'm not…" the yawn finally escaped, stopping his denial. "Oh all right," he mumbled, getting out of his chair and shuffling down the hall to his room. The sound of his door clicking shut, though faint, was audible to the silent occupants of the dining room, who were now looking at each other.

Elm's eyes twinkled, and one corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile. "He's a nice kid."

"He is, isn't he? Though he does tend to chatter on and on like a little monkey a lot."

Elm raised one eyebrow, finding that hard to believe. "Really? He didn't say much while we were eating."

"I don't think he's ever seen anyone eat so much at one sitting. Frankly, neither have I. You must have a very high metabolism."

He shook his head. "Not quite, though I suppose you could say that."

"Oh?" The questioning look on her face was very clear.

"It has to do with the power I wield."

"Well, so you do have some sort of gift. Brian will be glad to hear that I brought home a real superhero. He's always wanted to meet one."

Elm shifted uncomfortably in his seat at hearing the word "Hero," the smile dropped off his face, and he broke eye contact. "Please, I'm no hero, Ma'am," reverting to his original use of the honorific.

"Yes, you are," she insisted forcefully. "You certainly saved me! And I told you before to call me Alex."

"M—Alex, if you knew my past, you wouldn't say that.

"Then enlighten me. Because from what I've seen, you certainly aren't a criminal."

He scowled fiercely at the floor, as if it had insulted him. "Certainly not! I'm a law-abiding citizen, just like you!"

She leaned across the narrow table and put a finger under his chin, forcing him to look into her eyes once more.

"Then why do you so readily dismiss the idea that you're a hero?"

He didn't respond vocally; he blinked and tried to turn away again, but she wouldn't let him do that. He blinked again, hard, and tears began to slowly drip from his eyes and run down his cheeks, and haltingly, piece by piece, revealed how he obtained his power.

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"And that's," sniff, sniff "when I saw her," sniff "for the last time." By that time, the two of them had moved to the living room and seated themselves on an old, green couch.

It appeared to Alexandra that the young man before her was more prone to displaying his emotions than many. That was good; too many people, mostly men, seemed to think it was shameful to let others see any emotion other than anger, and bottled up those emotions until they were overcome and broke down where they were. Not so with Elm.

Speaking if whom… "So, you still think I'm worthy of hero status?" He shook his head. "I guess you do; I can tell. You really shouldn't."

Tentatively, she reached out a hand and touched his shoulder, and when he didn't flinch away, gripped it more firmly. "And why shouldn't I? You did what you had to do to protect them, and as for the other, well, it was out of your hands. There was _nothing_ you could do about it!" She gave him a slight shake to punctuate her sentence. "_Nothing_, you hear me?"

He burst into a fresh round of tears, and she scooted closer, allowing him to drop his head onto her shoulder and sob freely. She patted him on the back, then rubbed it gently, in a soothing pattern, until he cried himself to sleep. Slowly, she laid him on the couch, pillowing his head with a blanket, then covered him with a quilt.

In the morning there was no sign that he'd been distressed at all.

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He'd meant to stay only for the one meal, but—one meal elongated into one night, the one night turned into a day, the day to a week, and the week to a month. He kept meaning to leave, but whether it was doing the dishes, helping put up Christmas decorations, showing Brian how to do his homework, or cleaning house, there always seemed to be something more he could help them with.

He could tell the boy admired him. He didn't have to use his Empathy to see that. The first time he'd teleported in front of the kid, Brian had stared, then jumped up and down and clapped his hands in joy. He wouldn't stop jabbering away about how he had a real superhero living in his house, and that he couldn't wait to tell his friends, until Elm solemnly asked him to keep it a secret. "After all, we wouldn't want villains to come after you to get to me, would we?" Brian snapped his mouth shut, agreeing to keep quiet. "Cross my heart, and hope to die," as he put it.

But finally, the interlude came to an end.

Everyone in the house was in bed, sleeping soundly. However, in the midst of a pleasant dream, Elm sensed something that didn't belong, and shot up, instantly awake. For a moment, all he heard was the thunder of his heart pounding. But then he calmed down, casting his awareness around in an attempt to find what had disturbed him. It didn't take long to find an intruder in the house—he or she (or it) was in the kitchen.

But there was something strange about that person. The emotion was… it was… hunger… a feral hunger. And yet, it wasn't hunger so much as a thirst, an almost unquenchable thirst.

He quietly got out of bed, throwing on his cloak and grabbing his staff from the corner of the room. He eased the door open, then tiptoed down the hall. He was almost to the kitchen when "Cre-eak!" He froze, inwardly berating himself for forgetting that one spot in the hall.

The intruder's emotion spiked, and whomever it was let out a low growl. He could hear their footsteps thudding into the wooden floor of the kitchen as they came to investigate the noise. Elm gripped his staff tightly and prayed fervently, hoping he could end it quickly before anyone got hurt. A small layer of sweat formed on his brow, and his heart rate rose. He was as tightly coiled as a spring, waiting to strike.

The intruder stepped around the corner, and quick as a rattlesnake, Elm lashed out with his staff. And just as with the street thug, the blow impacted on the intruder's temple, with a solid thud that knocked it back heavily into the wall. But the intruder shook its head as if shrugging off the attack, then focused on Elm. Rage entered into the mind of this mysterious stranger, mingling with the strange hunger/thirst. He barely had time to contemplate the change before the intruder lunged with almost supernatural speed, forcing him to retreat down the hall. Another lunge forced him to reveal another power. By compressing the air between himself and his attacker, he formed a shield that stopped the lunge in its tracks. The intruder shook off this impact as well, and began mindlessly beating at the shield.

Then from behind him, he heard two bedroom doors opening. "What's all that racket? I'm trying to s—"

"Get back, both of you!" Evidently, they saw the intruder, because two doors slammed shut.

The hammering at the shield was still going full force. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. It was time to go on the offensive. He dropped it and swung with his staff, hitting the thing hard across the face. Whatever it was, it wasn't human. No normal man could take a hit like that and still be standing, much less charge at that speed. Elm was caught unaware and was spun about. He shook off the ensuing dizziness, only to almost have the staff ripped out of his hands. He held on tight and turned—and what he saw made him sick. The attacker had impaled himself on the end of the staff. It was all Elm could do to keep from throwing up, and his grip on the staff slackened. The intruder staggered a few steps back, staring down at the weapon protruding from his chest, then burst into flame. A moment later all that was left was a spot of ash on the floor.

Slowly, cautiously, mother and son peeked their head out of their doors.

"Is it safe?"

He barely made it to the bathroom in time, and didn't come out until his stomach was completely empty.

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_The morning I got my powers, it was still dark outside. Mom and I'd been gotten up early and rushed to the facility. They said they'd made a breakthrough in the research, and they needed us right away._

_I was still yawning when they hooked up the machines in their lab and asked us to lie down on the beds they had for us. I would've fallen asleep, but I was too excited. They said that if it worked, the whole thing would be over, and I'd have my power. That kept me awake despite the lack of sleep. I barely noticed when they said there was a slight risk. Who cared? It wasn't likely. In fact, they said it was less than a one percent chance of anything going wrong._

_I don't know how long they had those wires attached to our heads, but it couldn't have been more than a couple hours, because when they woke me (I guess I wasn't as excited as I thought, to fall asleep like that), it was still dark outside, though at the time I couldn't see that. After all, I was in an enclosed room._

_I sat up, and right away, I felt different. There was a swirl of emotions running through me, and it took me a few minutes to figure out that they weren't all mine. Triumph, well, that was to be expected. Awe, that was a little surprising, but again, understandable, considering I was no longer normal, and a small dose of fear was intermixed with it. Inevitable, that one, though I wish it were otherwise. And…sadness? Why would anyone be grieving? Shouldn't they be elated that it worked?_

_I glanced over at mom, but she wasn't moving. I figured she must have fallen asleep like me and just hadn't woken up yet. I jumped of the bed and started walking towards her, then realized I still had the wires attached to my skull. I stopped, glancing at one of the scientists, who started and rushed to remove them and once that was out of the way, I looked at my mom again. And then the excitement finally hit me. I could be a hero!_

_Without conscious thought, I found myself instantly at her side, and I reached out and gently shook her. "Mom, wake up. It worked. It really worked!"_

_She didn't so much as twitch. I shook her again, a little harder. "Mom? Come on, faking sleep is something I'm supposed to do, not you." I chuckled a little at the idea of her switching our roles like that, but there was still no response from her._

_I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned. The scientist whom I looked down at shook his head, not sure what to say. He gestured helplessly when asked, "What?" He shook his head again, then picked up her wrist, putting his fingers on the point where her pulse would be. He couldn't mean…I snatched her wrist away from him and put my own fingers on what I though was the pulse point, but I didn't feel anything._

_I noticed she wasn't breathing. What was going on here?_

_I reached out instinctively with my mind—and felt nothing; it was an empty void where she should have been. And she wasn't asleep. Even in sleep there would be something to feel, some subconscious awareness of the surroundings. But there was nothing._

_I broke down right there, not caring who saw me cry, and wishing that I'd paid more attention to the risks they highlighted earlier. Perhaps if I had, mom would still be alive._

_The tears didn't last long. After all, there were things that still needed to be done. I needed to "die" in the real world, so my family would never be threatened because of me, and I did want to say goodbye to my sister, even if I couldn't actually use that word. I needed a weapon. I needed a disguise. And so on and so forth._

_I didn't like having my family deceived. It felt a little too close to telling a lie, even though I wouldn't actually be the one who told it. I salved my conscience with the thought that I would tell my sister the truth, which I did later that same day. But I swore her to secrecy. After all, the more people who knew a secret, the more likely it could be leaked._

_And so, my new career as a "hero" was born._


	4. Introductions

**Disclaimer:** see chapter one

**A/N:** Although I'm glad to know that I have four people who appreciate this story, it would be nice if there were at least a couple more. My fellow authors, would you mind telling others of my story? I, in turn, will try to tell them of yours, if you like. Also, there are events in this chapter that conflict with the canon timeline of the show. However, since some of the characters in this universe (Now officially the "Allies and Enemies" Universe) were created and used long before season five came out, I have taken creative license, and decided that the fifth season never happened here.

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_Dear Brian and Alex,_

_I wanted to say goodbye in person, but I was afraid that if I did, you would convince me against my better judgment to stay. However, I feel this is truly for the best. I wish I could stay, but I had a—well, I guess feeling that I needed to move on, and that worse might, no, I take that back, _would_ happen if I were to stay. Call it intuition, I suppose, or a higher power trying to get my attention and move me on to where I'm needed. But for whatever reason, I felt an irresistible pull that insisted I leave._

_Brian, I left a gift for you under the tree. From what I know of you, I'm positive you'll love it. Perhaps you're wondering what this gift is? Well, you won't find out until Christmas, if I know your mother. As for how I got it, I stopped a robber while I was at the mall, looking for the right thing to get you, and the manager of the store I was in at the time told me I could have anything I wanted that I could see. My eye fell on this immediately. Enjoy it, and think of me whenever you play with it._

_Alex, the gift I left you isn't in a box, or bag, or a package of any kind. You seemed to me to be the kind of woman that doesn't like to depend on others, even for protection, however grateful you may have been that one time. I made arrangements with a local martial artist and weapons expert; her address is on the attached sticky note. You have free lessons for the next eight months. I'm not telling you how I convinced her—it's too embarrassing to even think about for long. My cheeks are red as it is, and you're not even here to see me!_

_Anyway, I sure will miss you guys! If you want to write me, I'll be in Jump City. Yes Brian, Jump City, as in the home of the Titans. I'll send you the specific contact information once I arrive._

_A fond farewell, Elm._

By the light of a small lamp, the writer of the letter scribbled an address, presumably the one belonging to the martial artist, then set the pen down on the dining room table, switched off the light, and got up. He walked out the front door, staff in hand. He only looked back once, then pulled the hood over his head and disappeared into the night.

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A group of teens sat around the table. Just one look, however, would tell you that they weren't your normal bunch of friends. The one girl in the bunch had long, long pink hair; the braids in it pointed up and back from her head. Her eyes were the exact same shade as her hair, and her skin was very pale.

One of the boys was extremely large, and hairy all over, which happened to be the exact opposite of the boy sitting next to him, who was a midget so small he could be mistaken for a bald five-year-old, if one didn't see the perpetual smirk on his face, or hear his loud-mouthed insults. He wore a large, metal pack on his back.

Another of the companions was totally silent, just sitting there in his black cape with the hood up (making him look rather like a bat), between two guys in red body suits who could have been identical twins and kept calling each other "Billy," and the last one's head was covered by a green helmet that extended into a single lens over both eyes..

But it wasn't just their appearance that spoke of how _not_ normal they were.

Though the little diner was bustling, full of diners and waiters, there was no one within ten feet of their table. Everyone was giving them a wide berth, as if there were some invisible line they dared not cross.

That, with the mingled looks of fear and anger, led to the obvious conclusion that they were more than they appeared to be.

The newcomer that walked in the door took all this in at a glance, then shook off the snow that had built up on his grey cloak and gripped the staff he held in one hand just a little more tightly. Otherwise, he gave no sign that he'd noticed the tense atmosphere, and moved to walk past the table where the group sat, ignoring the ten-foot radius that no one else was crossing.

Immediately, all conversation in the diner ceased, including the one the group of teens was having, and several more teens in red body suits appeared out of nowhere, blocking his path. "Where do you think you're going?" one of them demanded loudly in a southern drawl, crossing his arms over his chest. The stranger didn't answer, only trying to step around them, but even more of them appeared, this time completely surrounding him. The one who'd spoken up originally reached out and lightly shoved him. "What are you, deaf? Answer me!" The other teens just watched, waiting to see how this played out.

This got a response from the stranger. Though he spoke softly, every word was clear and enunciated. "I'm just trying to get past you."

The red-suited teen sneered. "Why didn't you just go around like everyone else?"

The stranger stared down at him, countering with, "Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

The teen opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again, gaping like a fish. "Don't you know who we are?" he finally managed to say. "We're the HIVE Five."

The stranger looked around slowly, as if counting. In fact that's exactly what he was doing, because the next words he spoke were, "I count a bit more than five of you."

"So, you're a wise guy, huh?" The look-alikes all narrowed their eyes and took on threatening stances. The rest of the diners backed off even further, to the walls, exiting the building entirely if they could.

The stranger shook his head, then spoke even more softly. "You don't want to fight me."

"No, I really think I do," was the response, and the teen lunged, only to be felled by a lightning quick strike of the staff.

His copies stared for only a moment, then charged en masse.

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Jinx stared in amazement as this single stranger single-handedly defeated her teammate Billy Numerous, knocking out one copy with a knock on the head, then flowing smoothly into a blow that incapacitated another. Soon, he was surrounded by a small pile of unconscious bodies, but once the last one dropped to the floor, it disappeared, along with all but one of the others—the original Billy.

Jinx shook her head and sighed, putting up a hand to stop Mammoth, pint-sized Gizmo, goggle-eyed See-More, and silent Kyd Wykkyd from leaping to the attack. After all, Billy had picked that fight himself; so really, he'd only gotten what was coming to him.

Cautiously, she approached the stranger, halting when he held his staff up in a defensive position. She held up her hands to show she had no weapons, and adopted a non-aggressive posture. "I don't want to fight," she said. He relaxed a notch, but he was still as tightly wound as a rubber band. Any little thing might set him off.

Jinx spoke softly, in a soothing voice, and smiled reassuringly. "I'm sorry he attacked you. He can be like that sometimes. But as I said, I don't want to fight. In fact, I'd like to be your friend." Slowly, with each word, the stranger loosened, unwound, and slackened the death grip on his staff.

"You …don't?" She shook her head. A sigh of relief issued from behind the hood, and slowly, hesitantly, he reached up a hand to lower it, revealing the shy expression on the face of Elm.

As when he met Alex, his stomach growled before he could say anything else, bringing a red tinge to his cheeks. Jinx beckoned him, inviting him to sit with the group, including a recovered (but highly subdued) Billy Numerous.

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As Elm dug in to the food, wolfing down one pizza slice after another, and Kyd Wykkyd watched impassively, the rest of the group moved slightly off to have a private conversation.

"What are you playing at, letting that pit-sniffer eat at our table?" Gizmo objected once they were out of earshot. "Especially after he took out a teammate like that?"

"Yeah. He beat up on me, and you invite him over?" one Billy piped up. "You said it, Billy," replied another. "Thanks, Billy."

"Cut that out. Now, first of all, you attacked him without permission, Billy. Can you really blame him for defending himself?" The Billys all looked at each other, one of them scratching his head, but they couldn't come up with an answer. "And another thing. Someone who can take one of us out single-handedly could really be a useful addition to the team. Don't you agree?" Gizmo folded his arms across his chest and said 'Humph.' The Billys all merged back into one from shock, Mammoth put his chin in his hand, and See-More tapped his lens thoughtfully, then shrugged. "You're the leader," he said. "It's up to you." One by one, the others agreed, albeit a little reluctantly in Billy's and Gizmo's case.

They filed back to the table just as Elm downed his third pizza. He looked up as he heard their approaching footsteps, tensing slightly in anticipation of a possible attack, but relaxed when Jinx smiled again. "How would you like to join the HIVE?"

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_Reflex. That's what everyone said, every single person who helped me learn to use my weapon. I needed to learn the right movements, not with my head, but with my muscles and instincts. Of course, that was easier said than done. At first, I was slow and clumsy, half the time hitting myself instead of my opponent, and despite lots of practice, I didn't seem to be making any progress. I despaired of ever learning to be a fighter._

_Then one day—"Oomph!" Without conscious thought, I'd feinted a downward strike, and my teacher moved to block it, only to get caught by my sweeping kick that took her legs out from underneath her._

_I froze, staring at her with my jaw dropped, she staring at me with a smile on her face. That moment seemed to last an eternity, or at least a few years. She blinked, and I snapped out of it. I reached out a hand to help her up, and she gratefully took it._

_As she stood upright, she clapped me on the back in congratulations. "Looks like there's nothing more you can learn from me. Just keep practicing. That's all you need to do."_

_My shock came back full force, and she laughed at my stunned expression. Another eternity passed before I snapped out of it—again._

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Yep. Positive."_

_I cocked my head, thinking. Even if I didn't need any further training, I knew someone who did. Alex. She could undoubtedly make use of such training, and would most certainly enjoy the challenge it presented._

_After running that thought around my head for a few seconds, I asked, "Would you do me a favor, Ma'am?"_

_"That depends." The crafty gleam she had in her eye caused me to shift my feet._

_"Depends on what?" The gleam intensified. No doubt about it, she was after something._

_"On what the favor is, and what you're willing to do for it."_

The rest of the entry has been scribbled out, making it completely illegible.


	5. Den of Thieves

**Disclaimer:** see chapter one

**A/N:** Boy, when it comes to creating character names, an old phone book really comes in handy! And yes, Snowball is a real name, in a real phone book, in case you wonder when you read that name.

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**Den of Thieves**

"Police are baffled as the investigation into the latest case in a series of disappearances comes to a dead end. Twenty-eight year old Jacob Snowball vanished without a trace from his home two days ago, and both the police and the man's family are clueless as to the cause. As with each of the other five disappearances, there was no sign of a struggle, and no notes explaining the disappearings. Nothing was taken but the victims themselves and whatever clothing they were wearing at the time of their supposed kidnapping.

"The families of each have said that none of the victims had been acting unusual in any way in the week preceding their disappearances, precluding the possibility that they planned to leave of their own free will.

"Even more baffling, every single one of them was a high-level employee of reclusive business man Felix Spencer. He declined to comment on this string of kidnappings until a press conference late last night. While there, he claimed to have a number of private investigators working on the cases in hopes that they might find some clue the police missed."

"In other news—" At that point the television was muted, and the outline of a figure stood up from the couch in front of it.

"It looks like it's time to start our own investigation," it said in a male voice, and it turned sideways to the light emanating from the screen. The only thing about the figure that could be seen for sure in the otherwise dark room were the spikes of hair on his head.

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The HIVE filed into their hideout, Elm with them. He still had a couple of cheese pizza slices he was munching on in his hand, and they were rapidly disappearing into his stomach.

His eyes widened at the sight. A large, flat-screen TV was on one wall, with a gamestation attached, and several padded chairs plus a comfy-looking couch in front of it. "Nice place," he commented after a few seconds of silent observation.

"Thanks," grunted Mammoth, and Jinx grinned at Elm's admiring expression. He absently stuffed the last of his food into his mouth, then plopped down onto the couch with a contented sigh. "Comfortable too," he added, and yawned so hugely his jaw nearly cracked. Before anyone else could thank him for the compliment, he was fast asleep and snoring lightly, his chest rising and falling with his even breathing.

"That was fast," said See-More.

"Huh?" Mammoth asked.

"It didn't take him long to make himself comfortable," See-More clarified.

"Shh." whispered Jinx. She put a finger to her lips. "Let him sleep. It's obvious he needs it." As they all filed out to go to their own rooms, Jinx lingered for a few moments, staring at their guest. "What have you gone through, to make you so weary?" She asked quietly. Her only answer was a snore, and a twitch of his arm, as if he were dreaming…

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_He was in an empty plain. As far as the eye could see, there was only low, brown grass and the occasional scraggly bush. Not a single tree, mountain, or even small hill were in sight. The only other thing visible was the sun in the bright blue sky, beating down on him in waves of heat that brought large beads of sweat to the surface of his skin._

_He shed his cloak, but it didn't make one bit of difference. Neither did attempting to use the shade underneath one of the nearby bushes, for they provided none._

_He also heard nothing, other than the slight wind that did nothing for the heat. No animals rustled underfoot, no birds called out from the sky._

_But then suddenly, out of nowhere, he heard a quiet trickling, seemingly of water, and he turned his head in the direction of the sound. His eyes opened wide, and he scrambled to his feet. Where there had been only featureless plain before, there was now a pond, with a small river coming into one end and flowing out the other. Trees and flowering bushes lined the banks. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, but when he opened them again, it was all still there. Numbly, he shuffled towards it, and when he reached out a hand to feel a tree, it was solid to the touch. The rough bark was really there, not a hallucination._

_Eagerly he rushed to the pond, kneeling to gulp down huge swallows of water, and when he had drunk his fill, he splashed water on his face to cool himself._

_He closed his eyes and lay back on the soft, green grass to rest, but hardly had he done so, when he heard a twig snap behind him. He jumped up and whirled around, coming face-to-face with—_

A mile apart, two people shot up simultaneously, their hearts beating wildly.

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"I don't think you ever told us your name," Jinx said over breakfast.

He chewed his cereal, swallowing before answering with one word. "Elm."

"Elm? Where'd you get that crummy name?" queried Gizmo, with a look that said he didn't think much of it.

"Gizmo, be nice," Jinx reprimanded. The pint-sized little boy folded his arms across his chest and sulked. She turned back to Elm and introduced the team members, pointing to each in turn. "That giant over there is Mammoth." The hulking teen across the room waved, and Elm waved back. "See-More." The one with the lens over his eyes smiled, prompting the same from Elm. "Kyd Wykkyd." The dark figure in the cape made eye contact and nodded once. Elm solemnly did the same. "Billy Numerous." The look-alikes glowered, evidently not having forgiven him for beating them. Elm eyed them warily.

"And I'm Jinx." She finally said, grinning widely. Elm shyly returned the smile, but cocked his head a moment later, the smile disappearing into an expression of curiosity. "Jinx? That's an interesting name. How…? Where's it come from? I mean, I can see where they get their names…" he observed, gesturing at the others.

"It comes from my power. My bolts of energy give bad luck to whatever they hit."

He raised an eyebrow at that, muttering under his breath. "If it wasn't for my empathy, I wouldn't believe it." He lifted another spoonful of cereal to his mouth.

Gizmo narrowed his eyes and spoke up again. "What was that, snot-muncher?"

Once again, Elm made sure to swallow before replying. "I said," he spoke more loudly and clearly, "If I wasn't an empath, I wouldn't believe her. But, since I am…" Leaving the midget to the obvious conclusion, he turned back to the girl with a small smile. "Just how powerful are you?"

"Let's just say you don't want to be near a tall building if I throw all my energy into it."

His eyes widened appreciatively, and he gave a low whistle. It was a few moments before he turned back to his food, but once he did, he finished it in absolute silence, as did the rest of the teens with theirs.

Afterward…

"So, when's practice?" Elm asked, as he started up the water in the kitchen sink to do the dishes.

Everyone froze. "Uh, practice?" Mammoth scratched his head.

"We don't need no practice!" Billy declared.

"You said it," Gizmo replied.

"Thanks." Billy folded his arms across his chest and glared at Elm. Several replicas appeared, all with the same expression and posture.

"And besides, every time I build an obstacle course, you losers trash it!" Gizmo added.

"Hey, I can't help it if it's fragile!" Mammoth protested.

"Fragile?! Titanium alloy isn't fragile, you Neanderthal!"

"What did you call me?" Mammoth cracked his knuckles threateningly, and in response, out of Gizmo's pack extended four metal, spider-like legs. Elm stared at the confrontation, absently turning the faucet off before the water overflowed.

At that moment, Jinx walked into the room. "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" she screamed.

Mammoth and Gizmo pointed at each other, both saying, "He started it!" They glared at each other. "I did not, you did!" They gritted their teeth and scowled furiously.

"SHUT UP!" They complied instantly when they saw her eyes starting to glow pink. "I don't want blame, I want an explanation!" When her clenched fists started glowing in the same color, everyone backed away from her, slowly. All except Elm, who was oblivious to what they meant.

"Really, I suppose it's my fault." She turned to face him, the glow fading slightly from her eyes. "I asked a question, and they started arguing about the answer." The glow faded even more, and her fingers started relaxing.

"What question did you ask?"

"I asked what time practice was."

The glow was completely gone from her eyes, and her hands were completely relaxed.

"That's not a bad idea. It's been a while since we had one, but it doesn't help that we destroy every obstacle course Gizmo builds."

Elm thought for a minute. "What about a holographic course?"

After a long pause, Gizmo mumbled, "The snot-muncher's right. Why didn't I think of that?"

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200 miles up the coast, in an abandoned warehouse

The room was almost pitch black. The only illumination was the glow of a nearly expired light bulb on the ceiling. However, it must have been enough for the shadowy figure, who sidestepped several barely discernable piles of clutter as it crossed the floor. It stopped in front of another, even more indistinct figure.

The one who had moved spoke in a low-pitched voice that was, nevertheless, decidedly female. "Sir, I have to report that our newest member has failed his initiation."

There was silence, then the other spoke in a gravelly voice. "How did this happen?"

"Apparently, from the scattered memories we coaxed from the neighbor's minds, there was a metahuman living with them at the time."

"And why was I not made aware of this before the initiation?"

The woman took on a placating tone. "Sir, the metahuman was not reported as being very powerful, so—"

"It would appear that you were mistaken, would it not? Don't answer that." There was a short pause, then he changed the subject. "How goes our mission against the traitor?"

'We have managed to capture several of his…underlings. Our best interrogators are working them over as we speak."

"Excellent. Begin preparations at once. We are moving our base closer to the traitor's city."



_Before I forget—not that I'm likely to, as each incident is seared into my memory—I should probably write of how I develop new powers._

_Let's take the robbery while I was staying with Alex and Brian as the first example of many. I was simply browsing through a video game store in the mall, when a gang of thieves decided to hold it up. Yes, I know I told Brian it was one robber, but I didn't want him to idolize me more than he already did. Anyway, There I was, in the middle of a robbery, with one thief to guard the only entrance, and two at the cash register, all carrying guns._

_Quick as thought, I teleported to the spot right behind them and whipped out my staff, managing to knock them both out. However, when I turned around to deal with the third, he was already lifting his handgun and beginning to squeeze the trigger._

_In the time it took him to finish leveling the gun at my head, I realized I couldn't just teleport out of harm's way. The man behind the counter was also in the line of fire. I couldn't let him die!_

_As I heard the shot, something inside of me knew what to do, how to save both of us. A shimmer appeared in the air, about two feet in front of me, and the bullet ricocheted into the ceiling, as did the rest of them. When the robber's clip ran dry, he turned to run for it, but only got five steps before he joined his fellows in unconsciousness._

_The manager of the store was so grateful, he offered me anything I wanted from the store. I immediately spotted a Game Boy Advance, and the perfect game to go with it—it said Teen Titans._

_But enough of that. I was walking out of the mall, when an intense pain filled my body. I don't know how I managed to stay upright, much less find the nearest bathroom for privacy, but somehow I did, and I stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, feeling like fire was racing through my veins and clutching the stall door so hard my knuckles turned completely white._

_Finally, it stopped, but I still had another slightly painful experience trying to pry off my death grip on that door, and I was trembling for several minutes afterward recovering from the experience._

_When I finally felt confident to leave, I saw that I had been in there for a quarter of an hour. That had been the longest 15 minutes I'd ever felt, but unfortunately, it wouldn't be the last time I felt it._

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**End notes:** I don't know why, but every time I upload a document with italics in it, the first paragraph after a break (like the one above) reverts from the italics to normal lettering. Someone needs to talk to the admin about that.


	6. Practice Before Work

**Disclaimer:** see chapter one

Special thanks to all of you who reviewed last chapter, namely, **Tsukikage1213**, **ThSamurai**, **ShadowKnux**,** Dragonfire967**, **Splint**, and **TeSsA-MaRkOv**. You guys really made my day—er, I mean week—giving me that many reviews for one chapter, and provided a major incentive to continue with this story.

And one more thing before I get on with the story. I know for a fact that at least two of the above authors, namely **Tsukikage1213 **and **Splint**, are suffering from a remarkable lack of reviews in their ongoing stories. They are both good authors who have come a long way to become as good as they are right now, and could use an extra review or two—or even three.

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**Practice Before Work**

Many hours before dawn, in a back alley of Jump City, a clandestine meeting was taking place. The fact that the alley was uninhabited made it a good place to meet, and in addition to that fact, there was next to no light to illuminate any outstanding features of the two who were conferring, which made the location even better.

"You say you have information on the disappearances?" spoke the one with spiky hair.

The taller, thinner one answered. "No, that's not what I said—my boss asked me to tell you that HE has information, and would like to 'compare notes,' in his words."

"Who is your boss?"

"Felix Spencer."

"When does he want to meet?"

"Come to his mansion just after twilight, and bring your friends."

And with that, they both exited the alley, promptly going off in opposite directions.

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_This time, he couldn't even see the end of his own nose. His only source of light, the flame of a feeble, old-fashioned torch, had sputtered and died, leaving him, literally, in the dark. He couldn't even remember how he had gotten into this cave, and whatever reason had brought him here had long since escaped his memory._

_After what seemed like hours fumbling around in the dark, trying to feel his way out, he gave up, finally admitting to himself that he was lost. He leaned against the wall, then slid down it and sat on the cave's floor, giving in to despair. It couldn't possibly get any worse, could it?_

_Just as he had that thought, he felt a slight tremor, and a groan reverberated through the long tunnels of the cave. 'OK, maybe it can get worse,' he thought, as a sound reached his ears, the sound of something, probably a stalactite, crashing to the floor near him. The tremor became more powerful, turning into what could only be a full-fledged earthquake, and more crashing sounds came to his ears, some thankfully distant, but others frighteningly close. Once, he even felt some fragments hit the leg of his jeans, and bunched himself tightly into a ball in an attempt to make himself as small a target as possible._

_But finally, the furious shaking subsided, and he slowly lifted his head, trembling from the leftover fear—and saw light! His eyes widened in shock, then in comprehension. The earthquake must have collapsed a significant portion of the cave, and it wasn't really all that far from the surface anyway. He might have a way out now!_

_And sure enough, when he rounded a bend, careful not to step on the knife-edged shards of what had been a stalactite, he saw light. Glorious sunlight! Eagerly, he started climbing the rubble, only to find that the last few yards were completely vertical, with no handholds. But before his bubble of hope was truly punctured, a rope was lowered by an indistinct figure at the top, and he climbed up as fast as his arms could pull his weight._

_A hand reached down to pull him up the last foot, and he gratefully accepted the help. Once he'd recovered sufficient breath at the top, he turned to thank his benefactor—and got the biggest shock of all._

_"Mom?"_

As before, two different souls shot up from their sleep, pulses racing and eyes open wide, this time joined by another over four thousand miles away across an entire ocean. However, this person took it more calmly than the others…

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Blissfully unaware of the plots and investigations in which they would soon become hopelessly entangled, the Hive and their newest recruit assembled in the large, open basement of their hideout. Once they were all there, Gizmo brought out a small console he had installed in the wall near the entrance.

"All right, you crud-munchers, listen up. What you see in this practice course, though completely holographic, will still be able to hurt you if you're stupid enough to ignore it. It has been augmented by force fields, meaning these are solid holograms, so you better use the snot you have for brains if you want to come out unscathed. And, of course, it has the added advantage that even if you losers completely trash the environment, a flip of a switch causes it to vanish, and with another flip, it is completely repaired." With that, he suited actions to words, flipping one switch to the "on" position.

Instantly, the large, empty room vanished, replaced with the image of a city block, complete with skyscrapers, pedestrians, and streets. But a monstrous robot was rapidly advancing on their position, causing the "civilians" to, predictably enough, scream and run away from the scene as fast their legs could carry them.

The simulated robot was approximately four stories tall, and the ground seemed to shake with its every stride. It had roughly human proportions, and it was made out of some gleaming black metal. The body was cylindrical, and tapered off to a rounded, dome-like head. On that head, where its eyes should have been, were instead relatively small protuberances made of a more brightly colored metal. Elm wondered what they were for.

He didn't have to wonder for long, as a moment later, the ground under his feet exploded, throwing him into the air and back several feet, where he landed rather painfully on his rear end. '_So they shoot lasers. How original._' But any further sarcasm he might have thought was brought to a screeching halt when he noticed it lining up for another blast, which he somersaulted backward to avoid.

No sooner had he regained his footing, when a small bolt of pink energy from Jinx's glowing hand slammed into one of the robot's legs. The energy didn't seem to have any effect, but a moment later, it somehow tripped over the only car between it and the HIVE, and came crashing down to earth—with a bit of help from Mammoth, who pulled the other leg out from underneath it with his bare hands, and See-More, who'd maneuvered around it and blasted the back of its head with an explosive sort of, well, eyeball. That was the only way Elm could think to describe the round projectile that came from the lens of See-More's helmet.

The impact caused wavelike ripples in the street, which buckled and cracked under the strain. Every member of the team had trouble keeping their balance, save See-More, who was using another "eye" to float like the basket of a hot-air balloon, and Gizmo, who had triggered the rockets on his backpack to hover over the destruction.

After a few seconds, the waves subsided, and the road settled back into place, the only indication of the recent stress being tiny, almost invisible cracks. "The bigger they come, the harder they fall," Mammoth commented, dusting his hands off. However, just as he finished this and turned to exit the scene, a loud _crack!_ split the air. Everyone whirled to face the source of the noise, which happened to be the robot they had thought defeated.

It had split in half along its back, in a straight line from the top of its head to the base of the torso. Slowly, to the amazement of the onlookers, the halves began to push themselves apart, despite the fact that they had to move uphill out of the crater to do so. When a high-pitched, metallic whine filled the air, they looked closer at the space in between the halves. Small, thin bars of the same black material as the robot spanned the gap, and the sound was emanating from them as they lengthened.

Once they'd reached close to twenty feet in length (almost exactly 6 meters), they stopped, and nothing more happened for a few seconds. Silence reigned supreme in that short span of time, as everyone stood completely immobile, waiting to see what would follow. A small bead of sweat appeared on Elm's forehead as he tensed in anticipation, and the others weren't exactly relaxed, either. Gizmo especially (undoubtedly because he knew what was coming next) projected an aura of nervousness as he landed and extended his robotic legs—nervousness so powerful it bordered on fear, nearly overwhelming Elm's Empathic sense.

There was a sudden spike in the tension as they detected shadowy movements in the robot's innards, then all at once, the contents burst out. Dozens upon dozens of miniature, two-foot-high robots swarmed out, all perfect little replicas of the large one that gave birth to them.

Immediately, it became apparent why Gizmo was on the verge of panic, when a tiny laser aimed at him cut completely through one of his metal legs, throwing him off-balance. But instead of causing him to scream and run, it prompted him, and the rest of them, into immediate action.

See-More sent an explosive eyeball into the center of the massed robots, sending them tumbling in all directions but doing little real harm—unlike the two mini-missiles from Gizmo's pack, which landed near a small group of ones that landed on their feet and completely incinerated them.

Mammoth picked up a mostly intact robot that landed near his feet, ripped its head off, and leapt into a third group of ten or so, using the body as he would a club.

Kyd-Wykkyd teleported into the middle of a group that had managed to pick themselves up. Every one of them turned to fire on him, only to turn each other into so much scrap metal when he teleported back to his original position.

Billy used a similar technique, replicating himself and deliberately placing his copies between pairs of robots, who would subsequently destroy each other when he reabsorbed the clones at the last second.

Jinx hexed one after another, causing them to misfire and blow themselves up. She had to back-flip a few times to avoid serious injury.

Elm was almost literally a whirlwind of activity. He blocked several laser blasts with his staff, which, to everyone else's surprise, caused it no harm, reflecting them back at the robots, and then he was in among them, jabbing here, kicking there, and generally keeping them off-balance enough to keep them on the defensive.

Seeing this, Gizmo skewered one with one of his remaining legs and then took to the air once more, to better aim at the robots and avoid hitting teammates. The HIVE got a nasty shock, however, when he was followed by about half a dozen of their little foes. Evidently they had little rockets of their own contained in their feet!

Jinx attempted to hex one from below, but narrowly missed Gizmo, who let out a stream of invective at her "clumsiness." She wisely decided to stay focused on the ground-bound enemies.

And more of them kept pouring out of the giant. There must have been the remains of at least five dozen littering the ground, yet there seemed to be twice that many still combat-effective, not counting the ones chasing Gizmo through the air, which now numbered ten. For each one he destroyed, at least two more took to the air, and soon, not only the ground, but the sky was filled with them.

However, the fight soon turned in their favor.

See-More managed to clear a small space around himself with another explosive eyeball, then switched to a laser that cut a line of enemies in half. Then Gizmo swooped low and finished off another group with a volley of missiles, and Jinx pounded their remains with bolts, causing them to accidentally fire and slice the top off a nearby fire hydrant.

Water gushed out in a small fountain, spraying several of the little robots—which promptly short-circuited and collapsed.

Seeing this, Mammoth began grabbing them and tossing them into the stream, one after the other, until a rather large pile was heaped up all around the fire hydrant.

This left only the few that were still flying, but one by one, those were taken out by either Gizmo's missiles, See-More's eyes, or Jinx's bolts of bad luck.

The team fell silent, as before, but instead of tension, a feeling of elation grew in each of them, and they all started cheering. Gizmo, Billy, See-More, and Mammoth started giving each other high-fives; even Kyd-Wykkyd lifted one corner of his mouth in a slight smile.

Elm rested the end of his staff on the ground, grinning at their antics, and his expression grew even wider when he made eye contact with a smiling Jinx.

All of a sudden, though, his grin disappeared, and his eyes widened. He lunged, hefting his staff and throwing it like a spear, seemingly at her—which was shown not to be the case when instead of hitting her, it hit the robot that had been sneaking up behind her. But something peculiar happened then. Instead of merely knocking the robot off its feet, the staff pierced its skin and nearly severed its head.

Everyone stared, first at the where the staff protruded from the robot's body, then back at Elm, then back at the weapon once more—and that's when the environment disappeared. The basement was visible once more; it was unharmed. Elm's staff clattered to the floor, and he walked over to retrieve it.

Bending down to pick it up, he inspected the end that had pierced the simulated robot. He found nothing but the blunt end that had always been there…



Upon returning to the main floor, the others promptly decided to initiate Elm into the team as a full member, and escorted him to his new room to prepare.

While they were waiting for him to get ready, they had an incoming transmission. Jinx switched on the screen to take it. It didn't make much difference. Whoever was calling went unseen on a screen that was entirely blank. As for hearing them, that was a different story. The female voice was low-pitched, but clear.

"Greetings, HIVE members. I hear you haven't been very active lately. I may have something of interest to you."

Jinx spoke up. "What is it?"

"I believe you are acquainted with the name Felix Spencer? I have reason to believe he has a vault underneath his mansion, a vault containing items of enormous value. What most of those items may be, I have no idea, but they are rumored to be valued at somewhere between two and three million dollars."

"And what do you get out of it?" For once, Gizmo refrained from insulting the person he was addressing, sensing it would not be wise.

"You may take what you wish, but do not harm any of the books you find. My superiors would not be pleased with either me, or you." The voice took on a threatening tone. "They are not people you want unhappy with you."

"All right, we'll take the job," Jinx declared.

"I thought you would…" And with those words, the transmission was cut.

Everyone looked at Jinx. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get ready!" she finally ordered.

"Ready for what?" Elm asked, entering the room.

"We have a mission," answered See-More. "Looks like your initiation will have to wait."

A slight reddish tinge came to Elm's cheeks as they eyed the costume they'd told him to change into. "I—I'll just go change back, then," he declared, and hurried out once more, and there was the sound of ruffles and lace flapping as he broke out into a run to escape their amused gazes…



_Had I been aware of who the HIVE five actually were when I met them, I would not have joined them. You'd think, from all that Brian told me concerning the Titans, that he would have mentioned the HIVE's history. Instead, it wasn't until later that I found out their origins as a mercenary team hired by a psychotic villain named Slade to destroy the Titans. The rest of their history wasn't so nice, either. They aided another notorious villain, Brother Blood, in an attempt to create a super weapon that could have destroyed whole cities, and staged many a violent robbery that the Titans or their allies had to put a stop to._

_Then again, it was for the best, I suppose, that I did not possess that knowledge. Had I refused to join, I would not have been in a position to see the good in their leader, the sorceress known as Jinx…_

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**A/N: **I just want to make one thing perfectly clear concerning the point where Elm pierced the robot by hurling his staff. It is not an indication of super strength. He is quite normal when it comes to matters of strength—at least, normal for someone of his unusual height. I plan on revealing the reason for that entire episode in the next chapter

Also in the next chapter is the first appearance of our favorite superhero team, the Teen Titans!

One more thing before you click that blue button to review this chapter. I know I mentioned it after the first chapter, but I want to mention it again, just in case you might have missed it. **I GAVE A LINK IN MY BIO THAT LEADS TO A PETITION, A PETITION TO BRING THE TEEN TITANS SHOW BACK! PLEASE SIGN IT, AND TELL OTHERS ABOUT IT TOO!!!**


	7. Breakins and Bodyguards

**Disclaimer:** see chapter one

**A/N:** Many apologies to my reviewers for the long delay. I really _hate_ writer's block. That, along with an inexcusable lack of motivation to write, caused this huge delay.

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Break-ins and Bodyguards 

In the western sky above the ocean, the bottom edge of the bright disk known as the sun began lowering itself out of sight, like a man slipping under the covers of his bed after a hard day's work. Blood-red streaks colored the sky from the vanishing rays of light, and tinged the silver-blue car on the street below a faint pink. It didn't do much to further illuminate the accompanying red motorbike or the red-caped figure riding it.

Abruptly, about the time the last sliver of the sun's rays disappeared over the water, the car turned down a private road, followed by the person on the bike. This particular road was lined on both sides by trees of every sort—the skeletal forms of several deciduous species that had lost their leaves due to early winter's touch were side by side with various green-needled pines, spruces, hemlocks and firs. And they didn't stop at the massive gate and wall that forced the car and bike to come to a halt. They continued on, out of the line of site.

The red-caped figure rode up to the very bars, then looked to the pillar holding the left half of the gate. A small screen was set into the grey concrete, and next to that screen was a red button. Whoever it was reached out a gloved hand and depressed the button. Immediately the impassive face of a security guard appeared. A teenaged male voice issued out from under the biker's red helmet. "Mr. Spencer is expecting us." The security guard didn't so much as blink. His only response was unseen, but the results of whatever action he took were plain, as the enormous gate ponderously opened an inch at a time to admit the vehicles, which revved up and shot forward into the opening. Behind them, the black bars swung firmly shut once more.



As the HIVE were making their way to Felix Spencer's mansion in their own vehicle, Elm slipped off into the world of dreams…

_Elm was in a thick, dark forest. The ground was littered with fallen leaves, and little else. No grasses or ferns, which meant the sun probably never penetrated all the way down here. When he looked up, he saw the crowns of the trees were so far up, it made him dizzy just thinking about that height. No climbing, then, as the lowest branches were way beyond his reach. Even with his staff fully extended in his upraised arm, with him standing on the tips of his toes, he didn't come anywhere close to those massive limbs._

_Just as he had come to this conclusion, he heard a faint roar in the distance, accompanied by crackling sounds. Lots of animals started scurrying past him and away from the noise, from tiny squirrels and chipmunks to deer, wolves and even a few bears. He didn't have to wait long to find out what it was all about, as a nearly overpowering wave of heat washed over him. Elm staggered for a few moments, regaining his bearings, then his eyes widened as the realization of what that heat meant. The forest was on fire! He should have known from all the forest creatures fleeing it._

_He turned to flee as well, but it wasn't long before the flames started surrounding him, despite his rapid pace. He broke into a flat-out run, but it was too late. He skidded to a halt as a burning branch fell right in his path, and he looked in despair all around him, at the fire rapidly consuming the trees, and starting to reach for him with greedy fingers of flame. He beat at his cloak to put out the sparks that landed on it, but it was in vain._

_Just as he was about to be consumed, Elm was surrounded by a black, shielding dome, and felt a hand grab his left shoulder. He sank into the ground out of sight, but before his mind could wrap itself around that, he was coming back up—in a very different location. Here, the only fire was a small campfire, and the trees weren't nearly so thick._

_"Huh?" He turned to face his rescuer, who turned out to be a pale girl in a cloak similar to his, except that hers was dark blue. "I take it you rescued me." She nodded once without saying anything, then turned back to face the campfire, which now had two other people nearing it. One was an indistinct figure, but the other was very clear. "Mom? But—you're dead!" She shook her head and smiled at him._

_"Not as much as you might think…"_

The three woke once again, and though their hearts weren't racing, they all felt distinctly puzzled.



**Spencer Mansion, 1 hour after sunset**

Elm's first inkling that the HIVE members weren't what he thought came when Mammoth broke in the door to the mansion. But he dismissed it, remembering that he'd seen police do the same thing on occasion, though admittedly it was on TV, not real life.

For some reason, no alarms sounded as the splinters that had been the door flew everywhere, which struck Elm as ominous somehow. He suppressed the shiver that ran down his spine and continued forward with the others, electing to take point.

When he rounded the corner in the hallway, muffled sounds of fighting reached his ears, and his grip on the staff tightened. A particularly loud _thud_ caused him to jump slightly, and he cautiously crept forward toward the source of the commotion, a door at the end of the hall. The HIVE was right behind him.

Upon reaching the door, he cautiously reached a hand out, twisted the handle, and ever so slowly opened the door, praying it wouldn't betray his presence with a squeak of protest.

All Elm saw were two men, apparently unarmed, doing their best to beat each other senseless. One man, a massive being who could have passed for a professional wrestler, drove his fist into the other man's jaw. But instead of being knocked out, the small, wiry man simply shook his head and attacked right back, delivering a kick that actually propelled his opponent into the wall, where he left a dent in the shape of his body. But it was the huge man's turn to shrug off the powerful attack.

Elm cautiously waved at the team behind him to stay back. Something about this whole fight struck him as off somehow, especially when the large man somehow sliced the other across the chest with a weapon he couldn't see. Elm frowned when this did not seem to affect the fight in any way, and extended his empathic sense to try and make a little sense of this bizarre situation. What he felt shocked him to the very core of his being. The small man felt similar to that…that thing that had attacked the Abbot family.

And the large man also felt off, but in a different way. He was full of a sort of battle-rage. Not blood lust, as the other; it felt almost like a berserk warrior, or a hunter when its prey turns and fights back. It was an almost mindless desire for violence, but not quite—there was a calculating, reasoning side to it as well, a consciousness that was almost—but not quite—human. And when he turned his attention back to the small man, he sensed the same near-human aura. What _were_ these people?

The biggest shock of all came when the big man grabbed the other, put him in a headlock, and twisted. A loud snap filled the room, and Elm didn't need his Empathy to know that that man was now dead. But instead of simply collapsing to the floor, his body burst into flame, and the victor quickly let go before he got burnt. He cocked his head, as if listening to something in the distance, let out a deep, animalistic growl that made Elm's blood run cold, and exited through another door.



**Spencer** **Mansion, a quarter-hour before the HIVE's arrival**

The Teen Titans filed into the small room. Their host currently had his back to them, studying a painting filled with all sorts of creatures that looked like they could come out of a fantasy novel, mainly werewolves and vampires locked in an eternal struggle for power and control. To the left of the painting, several edged weapons were hung on the wall, the most prominent being the huge, double-edged broadsword, alongside the curved form of a Turkish scimitar.

Felix Spencer waited a few moments, then, "Please, have a seat," he said without turning.

All of them took the offer, except Robin, whose mask wrinkled in a frown. "All right, you said you had information for us on the kidnappings. Let's have it."

Spencer shook his head. "So impatient, the youth of today." He still refused to turn, so all the Titans could see of him were his impressive height, thin build, and short, raven-black hair. And speaking of ravens…

"It was pointless of us to come, if you aren't willing to talk." This statement came from Raven, who was hovering in the air with her legs folded in front of her. The dark blue fabric of her cloak hung down from her back, and the hood was down, showing clearly her lavender-colored eyes and black hair tinted with a trace of purple, as well as the red gem in the center of her forehead. Her pale face showed no emotion whatsoever, as was usual.

"Is that so?" he asked, in his high tenor voice, and rotated on the spot.

This movement revealed a tan face, with piercing blue eyes combined with a big, pointed noise that instead of looking ridiculous as it should have, gave him a rather predatory appearance, like a hawk about to swoop down out of the sky after a tasty morsel.

The green-skinned, green-haired, green-eyed Beast Boy visibly shrank back from such a menacing visage, Cyborg blinked with the one human eye on his dark face, and Starfire let out a small 'eep' and jumped back behind her chair, peeking up so that her only visible features were the vivid red of her hair and the otherworldly green orbs that were her eyes. Her orange skin was completely hidden behind the huge mass of the chair, which she could have picked up with one hand if she hadn't been so startled. Robin may or may not have been taken aback by the man's appearance, but he showed no reaction other than to scowl at the businessman.

"Fascinating," Raven said in her typical deadpan tone of voice. "How do you produce that effect?"

He raised his eyebrows. "I don't do it deliberately. It just seems to happen to everyone I meet. Everyone but you, anyway."

"I'm sure…"

Robin shook his head, annoyance creeping into his voice. "You still haven't answered the question. Are you going to give us the information we came for?"

The man directed his gaze in the leader's direction, and though Robin felt an urge to hide under his red cape, he stood his ground.

"Whoever said that's the purpose I summoned you here for?" They all stared at him in shocked silence, mouths dropping almost literally to the floor. Finally, Cyborg managed to recover enough to protest weakly. "Summoned?"

He was not to be answered, because at that moment, a screeching alarm ripped through the building, startling even Raven, who tumbled to the floor in a heap and lost control of her powers for a split second, as the shards of a nearby lamp that had only moments ago been whole could attest to. However, Spencer only looked resigned, and when the horrible noise finally stopped, he sighed. "_If_ I survive this, then I'll give you whatever information I have. So you'd better do your level best to protect me…"

"You men, you knew this was coming?" Robin asked angrily. Spencer nodded solemnly. Robin turned to his team and ordered them to prepare for battle. In compliance with his own command, he drew his bo-staff and fully extended it. He also drew out a handful of disks and turned to face the huge doors, just as someone began pounding on them.

Cyborg made the motion to crack his knuckles, as if he were still completely human, then extended one arm, the hand being swallowed by the wrist as a blue glow built up on the end of the limb. Starfire floated up a few feet from the floor, her eyes and hands glowing bright green. Raven also rose, chanting her signature words "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos" over and over to gather black energy to her hands. Beast Boy took a battle stance and prepared to shift.

Finally, the doors gave, and a tide of enemies poured through like water bursting from a dam.

Cyborg let loose with his sonic cannon, halting the advance as the blue energy from his body knocked the leading ones back against their fellows. But they soon surged forward again, those that had been hit none the worse for the hits they had taken. Robin threw his disks, which impacted at the leaders' feet and encased them in solid blocks of ice. The mob pressed forward anyway, shoving aside their frozen comrades. One block fell to the floor and shattered, with the woman encased still inside. Upon impact she was consumed by flames that appeared seemingly out of nowhere, leaving only a pile of ash mixed with melted ice.

The same thing happened to the ones hit by Starfire's flurry of starbolts—they spontaneously combusted and left nothing of themselves but ashes. She stopped hurling the green balls of energy, confused at the result, but she was not the only one surprised. Evidently, their would-be assailants had been unprepared for what they would face, and rapidly retreated. There were a few moments of silence, deafening after the tumult of the fight.

"What are they?" Robin demanded to know, breaking the silence by addressing Spencer. However, it was not he who answered, but Raven.

"Hominis Nocturna." They all stared at her in incomprehension. Beast Boy scratched his head. "Uh, what was that?"

The one-word answer she gave had them staring once again, this time in disbelief. "Vampires."

Beast Boy would have laughed, but Robin cut in, his face a picture of thoughtful contemplation. "No, wait, it makes sense. Starfire, your bolts are based on solar power, right?" She nodded. "The stories all say that sunlight is the ultimate weakness of Vampires. One touch, and they're gone. And the burning when they die, that also confirms it."

Beast Boy was utterly terrified, evidenced by his shaking like a leaf, and the others didn't look so thrilled, either.



The HIVE stopped momentarily to consult Gizmo's map. "Let's see. The entrance to the stinkin' vault should be in a room somewhere near our current location." He scrutinized the map closely, then smirked. "Right there!" He pointed to the wall on the team's left, and everyone could see that the hall branched off in that direction just a few feet from their location.

"I'll check the room," Elm volunteered, and before anyone could stop him, he hurried around the corner…and saw the splintered remnants of what should have been a massive set of doors. He also noticed that, scattered here and there around the entrance, there were little piles of ash. Elm's brow wrinkled in a confused frown, and he shook his head.

He opened his mouth and began turning to call the others, when he noticed the room's inhabitants. There were six in total, which amounted to six pairs of eyes that fixed their gazes upon him. He stared back silently for a few moments, then nervously cleared his throat. "Ehem. Uh, hi." He halfheartedly lifted one corner of his mouth in an attempt to relieve the tension, but without success. The smile died before it was fully formed, and he started to slowly back away, even after he was out of sight.

His back ran up against something soft, and he whirled at the soft cry. He'd bumped into Jinx, who'd evidently decided to follow him around the corner. "Sorry. I guess I'm kinda nervous. Having six people stare at you like that is just…" a shudder ran through his wiry frame, and the quick glance over his shoulder betrayed just how unnerved he had been.

"Well, if the room's occupied, we'll just have to force our way through…" The team, who'd been eavesdropping, came into sight. Mammoth cracked his knuckles and grinned in anticipation, Gizmo displayed a smirk, and even Elm felt a slight lightening in the rigid tension that gripped his body. They all moved boldly forward, but were brought up short by the sight of another group coming from the opposite direction; a _large_ group.

"What _are_ you people?" Elm blurted out without thinking. He couldn't help it—the strange auras they gave off were baffling to his sense of Empathy.

It was the other group's turn to be brought up short, as if they hadn't noticed the HIVE. In that moment, Elm winced at the sharp spike in the peculiar hunger/thirst given off by the mob. The unblinking stares compounded his uneasiness, which in turn transferred itself to his teammates.

With barely a moment's warning, the mob surged forward, and there was no more time to feel uneasy.



Not five minutes after Raven's frightening revelation and Robin's unexpected confirmation of it, someone else appeared at the doorway. Apparently he didn't notice them, as he bent his head and kneeled down to inspect the mess that had been the door, revealing the bright red color of his hair, with several curious streaks of white.

Something stirred in Raven's memory at the sight of him, and she narrowed her eyes as he fingered one of the piles of ash. The other hand still held onto his weapon, a staff not unlike Robin's, except it was a steely-grey color.

He straightened up, shaking his head in what must have been confusion, and turned it down the hall, as if to call to someone. Evidently, he wasn't alone.

But then he finally spotted them, and his eyes widened—and the memory sprang to the fore of Raven's mind. That clear blue eye on the left, and the green one on the right, she would recognize them anywhere!

She almost jumped when he cleared his throat and greeted them. She thought furiously, but before she was able to formulate a reply, he backed away out of sight. 

"Raven?" This time she did start, breaking another nearby lamp. "What is it?" Robin asked.

She blinked. "That boy…I recognize him. I've seen him—"

But the weren't to find out where she'd seen him, because at that moment, a horde of people, presumably Vampires, rushed past the doorway, and sounds of fighting broke out in the hallway.

They didn't have to wait long to find out who they were fighting, when a familiar-looking rocket blasted a hole in the Vampire ranks, (as well as the floor beneath them).

"Gizmo…" Cyborg said through a scowl. He narrowed his human eye, and the robotic one took on a more menacing shade of red at the memory of that little punk hacking his systems. Only Starfire's hand on his shoulder restrained him from wading into the melee.

"Let them fight it out," Robin told him. "Make them come to us."

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Mammoth drove a massive fist into one person's rib cage. Several ribs snapped, but the man shrugged it off and returned the favor. Mammoth slammed to the floor and slid, not really hurt, but a bit dismayed that he had so little effect. The man he'd punched grinned, exposing several prominent teeth that could only be described as fangs. "You have no idea what's happening here."

Mammoth snarled. "Maybe not, but I can still do this." He gathered himself and launched at the man, wrapping his arms around the guy's neck. They both tumbled to the ground in a jumble of limbs, and the man tried to push him off, but to no effect. The harder he pushed, the tighter Mammoth squeezed, until man's spine audibly snapped.

The spontaneous combustion of the body caused him to yelp and scramble backwards, into Elm, disrupting his attack. His staff slipped a few inches in his grasp, and instead of merely knocking his target out with a blow to the head, the end of the weapon impacted with their neck—and sliced right through it.

The fire didn't faze him; after all, he'd seen it twice now, but when he got a good look at the end of his staff, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped; a spear-point extended from the tip!

The sight shocked him to such a degree it absorbed all his attention. He never saw the blow that knocked him into the wall. As he slid down the surface to collapse on the floor, his last sight before blacking out was a pale girl in a blue cloak rushing through the doorway…

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Beast Boy rolled his eyes at Raven, running after her into the hall. Starfire released Cyborg, and they, along with Robin, also followed, leaving Felix Spencer alone in the room for a moment. But the moment passed; someone (two someones, actually) emerged from the raging battle in the hall.

Neither the woman nor the man were in any way remarkable in appearance. Nevertheless, despite their appearances, they projected the same predatory attitude as the businessman staring at them from across the room.

"So, here's the traitor," the man spoke in a grating voice, one that made him sound as if he needed to clear his throat. "So, how do you enjoy consorting with mortals and-" his nostrils flared as if he thought the next word was some sort of curse, "Werewolves?"

Spencer glared. "At least I don't have to watch my back every moment, waiting for someone to plant a silver dagger in it. Believe it or not, they actually _trust_ one another."

"Oh? Was it that?" the intruder sneered. "Or was it the way they could feed you, without you having to prey on your _precious_ mortals?" The sneer twisted even further, into a snarl. "You always were too soft-hearted for your own good."

By this time, about a dozen or so scruffy-looking individuals had managed to tear themselves away from the fight, gathering themselves around the first intruders. The man who'd been talking to Spencer grinned in a decidedly unpleasant way. "Get him!" he ordered, and they eagerly rushed to obey their leader.

In a blur of motion, Spencer reached behind and grabbed two throwing knives in each hand and hurling them at his attackers. Each knife caught one in the chest, right in their hearts, and he was rewarded with four pillars of flame. He used the momentary hesitation of the remaining aggressors to his advantage, reaching back for another weapon, and coming up with the scimitar. Now he rushed _them_, and before they knew it, he was among them.

He decapitated one, then turned to a second before the flames had consumed the first, and did the same to her. The third managed to get his hands up in a hasty attempt at defense, but he too was dispatched in short order.

Then, as if on some unheard cue, the last five rushed him all at once, and he was disarmed just a few seconds later, though at a cost of two more lives.

Now he was pinned to the floor, with one person restraining his arms, one his legs, and the other kicked away the sword.

"So, the mighty Felix Spencer has fallen." The leader drew the short dagger out of the sheath on his right hip and walked up to the helpless man on the floor. He kneeled next to the captive. "Have a nice trip to hell for your treachery!" And with those words, he plunged the dagger into the man's heart.

He stood up and watched with a satisfied smirk as the flames flared and died, but the expression vanished when he felt the press of a cold circle of metal on the back of his neck. "Thank you so much for doing the dirty work. Isard Triton sends her thanks." Four shots later, and the only one in the room left alive was the woman who'd come in with the leader.

She calmly holstered her handgun, gazed for a moment at her handiwork, then walked up to the painting, pulled one side of it out from the wall like a door, and stepped behind it. A moment later, it drifted back into place, and the room was empty once more.



_Thus occurred one of the final battles of the Liken/Nocturna war, an ageless struggle for supremacy that hearkened back to the dawn of their two races. And despite their nearly overwhelming losses that day, the creatures of the night defeated their foes, the werewolves, and drove them into hiding. The Vampires were finally able to begin consolidating their power, and not much more than a decade later, the vast majority of the Earth's surface belonged to them. As their control became more absolute, however, a few of them began turning on one another, and armed resistance was never completely stamped out._

_But all that's another story, after I had more fully developed the power within me, the power to control the elements themselves…_


	8. Name, Rank, and…

**Disclaimer:** see chapter one

**A/N:** Once again, many apologies to my reviewers, this time for any implication that chapter seven was the end of the story. It most certainly is _not_! It merely is a transition to the next _segment_ of the story.

Another apology is required for the lateness of this chapter as well. Thanks to my friend **Tsukikage1213** that it wasn't any later than it was. Her nagging kept reminding me how long it has been since I last updated. And when I say nagging, I mean that in a caring way, so please don't slap my like you did ThSamurai!

Speaking of you, ThSamurai, it's most ironic you should quote that particular biblical passage for the funeral in your latest chapter. You'll see why when you read _this_ chapter.

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**Name, Rank, and…**

The moment the last Titan entered the corridor, one of the unknown combatants drew something out of a pouch at her waist. It couldn't be properly seen, but its effects as she dashed it to the ground were all to clear. Thick, billowing clouds of dark smoke rapidly filled the hall, completely cutting off vision; a chorus of coughing and wheezing began a moment later.

It didn't abate; there were few places for the smoke to go in the confined space. And if they could have but seen, the Titans and the HIVE would have marveled at the fact that not one wisp of it entered the all-important room.

Evidently, though, someone managed to get away from the smoke, because there was a loud bang, and a crunch of building material giving way. The sound of coughing diminished, as did the confounded smoke, and visibility slowly returned, by very small increments. The Titans could see their hands in front of their faces. Now they could see them extended a few inches away.

And now there were barely a few traces in the air. The Titans could see clearly that the HIVE was gone, and it didn't take a genius to figure out their mode of exit. The Mammoth-sized hole in the wall was evidence enough.

The other combatants, presumably the Vampires, were gone as well, and the phrase "good riddance" made itself known in each hero's mind.

However, one person was slumped unconscious against the wall near the hole, the staff on the floor beside his limp form. Robin retrieved the weapon and began examining it closely. But he was not so engrossed as to forget why they were here. "Beast Boy, check on Mr. Spencer." The changeling grumbled, but did as he was told. "Cyborg, make sure we don't leave this boy here. We'll want to interrogate him."

"So, Raven, who is he?" Cyborg asked as he bent down to pick up the boy in question.

She shook her head slightly. "I don't know his name, but—"

"Hey, you guys! He's gone!"

All questions temporarily forgotten, they raced back into the room, all except Cyborg, who had to be careful with his burden.

It was true. The man was no longer there, though the scattered weapons and scorch marks on several pieces of furniture indicated a furious struggle. Grimly Robin ordered them to spread out and find their charge.

But after five, long hours devoted to an exhaustive search through the mansion and every inch of the surrounding property, the Titans were forced to admit defeat. The subject of their search had disappeared, seemingly into thin air, and they were getting tired. Even Robin was yawning as he revved up his bike, though he did his best to conceal that fact from the others.

It was a long, silent journey back to the tower, and upon reaching their destination, the passengers of the car piled out, yawning so widely their jaws threatened to crack from the strain. Most of them began making their way inside, thinking only of the gentle embrace of sleep in warm, comfortable beds. However…

"Cyborg, aren't you forgetting someone?" Robin pointed out gruffly. He couldn't help it if he was cranky. He hated it when he couldn't solve a mystery. But at least _some_ good had come out of it all. They'd managed to capture someone who shouldn't have been there, someone who had undoubtedly been with the HIVE.

"All right, all right," Cyborg responded, too tired to make an issue of it. He reached back into the car, hauled out the unknown boy by the shoulders, and slung him over his back. He absently noted that whoever it was possessed a lean, wiry frame and unusual height. In fact, standing at his full height, he probably could have looked Cyborg straight in the eye without the need to tilt his head back.

"And make sure he's put in a top-security cell. When he wakes up, I want to know exactly what he was doing there."

"Okay," Cyborg managed to say between yawns. He trudged inside and up the stairs to the top level with his charge limply draped over one shoulder, so completely out of it he didn't think to use the elevator. Practically on autopilot, he dropped their unknown prisoner none too gently on the metal slab that served as the cell's bed, engaging the force field and alarm on the way out to his own room…

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_Elm remembered his name again. He grinned, pleased with himself. He was getting better at this. But the grin slipped off as began to notice what surrounded him. A dark, dense bank of fog cloaked him in __blackness and cold__. Once again, he couldn't see, though instead of a mere absence of light, a thick, suffocating miasma blotted out the heavens along with everything else. __Shivers not entirely due to the frigid temperature made themselves known to him. __And it stunk. Not just figuratively, but literally. He took shallow breaths in an attempt to avoid gagging on the awful smell. It didn't help. In fact, the odor got even worse, and if possible, the moisture in the air grew thicker._

_He grew lightheaded from lack of air. His staff fell from nearly lifeless fingers as he futilely tried to wave the fog away just a fraction of an inch. His knees grew weak, and finally refused to support him without much-needed oxygen._

_Collapsed, Elm frantically clawed at the ground as his lungs tried to take in air that wasn't there. Lights sprang up in front of his eyes in a warning that was all too clear even at that moment. He was suffocating._

_Then he felt something. A slight stirring that caressed the exposed skin of his face and hands. Suddenly he could breathe again. Gratefully he inhaled the fresh air brought in under the fog, sucking it in with huge, ragged gasps. And he wasn't the only one. At least two (possibly three) other sets of lungs could be heard coughing out the poisonous fog and taking in the life-giving oxygen._

_The breeze picked up, beginning to eat away at the fog like a highly corrosive acid. Small gaps in the mist turned to larger and larger ones; smaller pockets of fresh air merged as the moisture receded, and shafts of sunlight began piercing the gloom._

_A minute later, the air was completely clear, and instead of darkness, the sun shone brightly down upon the earth._

_Elm lay there for a moment, offering a simple, heartfelt prayer of thanks to whatever had brought about the wind. As the sun warmed his flesh, bringing additional life back into his body, he remembered he'd had companions in his near-death situation. Slowly, he lifted his head and scanned the area around himself._

_There they were, off to his left. Shakily, he sat up, but was unable to muster the energy to stand. So, he crawled._

_The first was his mother, sprawled out facedown. No doubt about that. The red hair, so vivid he'd heard his father affectionately call her "carrot-top" at times—and which he'd inherited from her—told him that even before he turned her over to check. She was unconscious, but still among the living. He crawled to see the next one._

_This figure was smaller. Her blue cloak, lavender hair, and pale skin were familiar, but he didn't know her name. She'd been the one to rescue him from the fire, and he seemed to recall that she'd been in the hallway when he was incapacitated. She was also unconscious but alive._

_The third one, who was just now beginning to stir, was totally unfamiliar. This one was a male in his late teens, with brown hair, and apparently just a couple inches shy of Elm's own height. When he finally turned over, he revealed a tanned skin tone and facial features that clearly indicated Asian ancestry. Japanese, undoubtedly, judging from the samurai armor and the accompanying sword at his side._

_Whoever it was, he groaned and sat up, shaking his head as if to clear the last vestiges of fogginess from his mind. Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking a couple times at the brightness of the sunlight. Then he turned, sensing another's presence, his azure eyes made contact with Elm's…_

And all three souls woke up once again.

This time, once she calmed down, one of them decided she had finally had enough and decided that she would get some answers.

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Early in the morning, just before dawn, three individuals were up and awake in Titan's Tower. Starfire was on the roof, staring up at the slowly brightening sky. Robin was at his desk, filling out paperwork. Raven was wearing a hole in the floor of her room, trying to make up her mind about something.

At the exact same moment, several things happened. The sun began shyly peeking up over the horizon, like a great big yellow eye, curious to see if there had been any change in the world below; Starfire awed at the beautiful colors it produced in both the sky and upon the surface of the ocean. Robin set down his pen, stood up and stretched, then left his room. Raven abruptly came to a decision and hurried out her door. She very nearly collided with Robin at the foot of the staircase.

"Raven? What are you doing up so early?"

"Surprisingly, I couldn't sleep."

He raised an eyebrow, wrinkling his mask. "I see," he commented, and left it at that.

Forgoing the elevator as Cyborg had done the night before, they walked side by side up the stairs in silence. The only sounds were their footsteps and the slight echo of these produced in the enclosed space.

Light began to filter in the windows as the sun began rising, casting a dark pair of human-shaped shadows on the grey, featureless wall as the two young heroes passed each pane of glass. As the light from outside grew brighter, the lights above the staircase silently switched off, unneeded.

They reached the top of the staircase and turned left into a branching hallway, another long stretch of featureless grey metal, lit by evenly spaced panels of lights in the equally unadorned ceiling. No doors were handy to provide an exit from that place; no windows to offer glimpses into other rooms of any kind.

There were only two exceptions: the entrance from the adjoining hall that connected this one to the stairs, and the single, heavily armored security door at the other end leading into the tower's miniature jail.

Robin apparently made note of the fact that she was headed for the same destination he undoubtedly had in mind. "Did your sleeplessness have something to do with our guest?"

One nod was all the answer she needed to give, and it was all she had time to give before arriving at the door.

Robin silently took off one glove and pressed his palm into the waiting stand, letting it scan his fingerprints to confirm his identity. A moment later, apparently satisfied, it sent an electronic impulse through the circuits connecting it to the system. The security door lifted from the floor and slid into the ceiling with a faint, almost unheard hiss, granting them passage into the domain it guarded.

Robin's glove was back on before they took two steps inside—and heard the prisoner speaking.

His words were indistinct, being spoken almost in a whisper; it didn't help that he had a voice that was already low-pitched, and he was in a cell across the floor about twenty feet from the entrance. In addition, he sat with his back to them, meaning he probably hadn't heard or seen them, and he didn't turn as they moved quietly toward the engaged force field.

As they drew closer, they began to make out parts of what he was saying, though some phrases were still too low for them to make out.

"… me to lie down…green pastures…leadeth me beside still… my soul: he leadeth…paths of…his name's sake."

By this time they were as close as they dared come without touching the force field, close enough to hear every word.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for though art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

Robin and Raven exchanged bemused glances, unsure what to make of this.

They were startled when the boy whipped his head around to face them, interrupting his own recitation. "You believe right. It is indeed."

Absolute silence reigned in the room for a span of several seconds. One could have heard the proverbial pin drop. The unflappable Raven, the girl who almost never let herself get caught off-guard, stared open-mouthed at the person addressing her.

"B-but I didn't…I didn't say anything!"

Robin, perceiving her reaction, narrowed his eyes, glaring at the unnamed prisoner. "What did you do to her?"

But that prisoner shook his head, seemingly just as perplexed as Raven. The baffled look on his face was hard to miss. "I clearly heard her say that she believed she knew what I was reciting. Are you trying to tell me you didn't hear her?"

"She said nothing."

"But—"

"She said nothing," Robin repeated firmly. "Now, you will be silent unless you are answering OUR questions. Who are you? And what were you doing with the HIVE in Spencer's mansion?"

A sigh escaped from the captive's lungs, and slowly, shakily, he stood up. He put out a hand to steady himself against the wall for a few seconds, then straightened up with his arms at his sides, standing stiffly at attention as if he were in the presence of a drill sergeant. He looked Robin in the eye, having to bend his neck down slightly to do so, and stated, "My birth name would be useless to you. I tried calling myself the Elementalist, until one too many jokes about my sanity prompted me to shorten it to Elm." He paused for a moment, as if to gather his thoughts, but as he opened his mouth to continue, a loud growl came from the vicinity of his stomach, and whatever else he was planning to say never got said. Instead, his face took on a pained look, and he put his hands over the audibly protesting portion of his anatomy.

"You wouldn't happen to have some food, would you?" he asked, strain creeping into his words.

"You'll get what you need when our questions are answered. Now—"

Elm interrupted Robin's question, a note of desperation in his sentence. "You don't understand! I need food, now!"

"No. You can last five minutes without it."

Elm gritted his teeth as his stomach growled again. When the moment passed, he once again looked Robin in the eye. "Want to bet on that?" he asked, right before he collapsed to the floor and began shivering violently. In a futile effort to stop the shaking, he wrapped his arms around himself.

Finally, Raven spoke up, perhaps sensing something from the boy in the cell. Her voice quavered as she spoke.

"Robin, I don't think he was joking."

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Beast Boy was sound asleep, dreaming of the time Terra had been part of the team. His lips curled up in an unconscious smile, seeing a particularly happy memory of them soaring together through the night sky. But it only lasted for a few moments, as some darker entered element entered the dream. His joyful expression morphed into a frown of puzzlement as a shadow crossed in front of their path. He squinted, trying to make out what it was, but the shape eluded him.

Within the dream, he became an owl, but the improved eyesight didn't help, as the shadow glided swiftly down and away. He pursued, not noticing that Terra had mysteriously disappeared.

Whatever it was, it possessed a remarkable aerial agility, diving through narrow gaps between buildings and signs with amazing precision. He was forced to rapidly shift to other flying animals just to keep up, and once he even had to turn completely around when his quarry abruptly reversed its flight path.

However, no matter what it tried, it couldn't shake its determined pursuer. It slowed down and landed, finally coalescing into a semi-discernable shape and size—that of a small human or human-like being. It wore a dark cloak with the hood up.

When a slightly winded Beast Boy landed, shifting back to his green, elf-like appearance, the unknown being's back was to him. He circled around, trying to get a glimpse of its face, but it turned its head away, the body following a moment later. So Beast Boy tried a different tactic. "What, afraid of being recognized?" He inserted as much humor into his voice as possible, trying to put the being at ease.

It must have worked, because it rotated toward him. Finally, a stray beam from a nearby light pole managed to illuminate the eyes. _Purple_ eyes.

He woke, the imprint of those violet orbs still imprinted firmly on his retinas. Only one person he knew had eyes _that_ color. But, it couldn't be her, could it? After all, why would he have been dreaming about _Raven_ of all people? He'd rather dream about Terra. The girl he loved. He did, didn't he? A trickle of doubt entered his mind.

He shook his head and turned over in an attempt to get just a few more minutes of sleep, but it was a futile attempt. His mind wouldn't let go of that last, illuminated image. Plus, the sun was shining through his window directly into his eyes.

He sat up, his blanket falling off in the process. _Well, I guess it's time to get up. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll beat Cyborg to the kitchen._ He heaved one big sigh and got up. He absently shunted bits of discarded clothing out of the way with his feet as he shuffled to the door, yawning as he entered the hallway.

_That overgrown hunk of tin just doesn't get it. Not only is unhealthy, but as I keep telling him, I've _been _most of those animals! _Beast Boy was so absorbed in this thought that he almost ran into someone. His sharp ears heard them coming only just in time to step out of their way. Then he noticed who it was, and stopped in his tracks, staring at the rapidly retreating back.

_What? Raven _never _hurries _anywhere! But unless he was seriously mistaken, which he doubted, she was indeed hurrying. And what made the matter even more baffling was _where _she seemed to be heading. Surely she wasn't planning on making breakfast too?

A moment after had he digested this startling thought, she came zooming back the other way with her arms full of food. He had to jump to get out of her way in time.

_Hey, what's going on around here? Have I gone crazy?!_ Well, there was only one way to answer that question, and that was to follow her.



**The HIVE's hideout**

After a brief glance over her assembled team in the common room, Jinx resumed her pacing.

"All right, we've had time to sleep. Now it's time to think. How are we going to rescue him?"

Mammoth grunted. "Why don't we just go in the front door, like last time?" he asked.

"After all, we outnumber them!" See-More agreed, sending a pointed glance in Billy's direction. For a change, the multiplicative teen hadn't replicated himself even once for this meeting.

"Because, barf-for-brains, they've undoubtedly upgraded their tower's defenses since then. We'd get our butt's kicked trying to get inside that way."

"There's no need to be rude about it," See-More's lips curved downward in a frown as he responded to Gizmo's insult, and he crossed his arms across his chest crossly.

"Whatever." The techno-minded teen brushed him off, something else having occurred to him. "I don't see why we even need to rescue the snot-muncher. He hasn't even been initiated!"

"Yeah!" Billy spoke up. "Why should we all risk our necks for someone we aren't all that acquainted with? Unless…" He stared hard at Jinx, who had trouble meeting his gaze. A slight tinge of pink showed on her cheeks. "Well, shucks. I think our lady of a leader _likes_ him." The flush on her cheeks deepened.

This provoked a variety of reactions from the various teens. Billy and Gizmo smirked. Mammoth shrugged his shoulders, as if to say "So what?" Kyd Wykkyd, predictably, didn't react at all, being his usual impassive self.

But the most unusual reaction came from See-More. Like Billy had before that statement, he stared hard at their leader for a few moments, eyes unreadable behind the lens. His lips tightened, but he didn't say a word, instead choosing to get up and walk out of the room.

Relieved at the excuse to get away from all those pairs of eyes, she followed him into the hall.

See-More heard the door open and close for her, and turned. "Is it true?" he asked quietly, almost hopefully. Jinx opened her mouth to deny it, to say it was absolutely ridiculous, but instead found herself stiffening, and in a cold, almost frosty tone, answered "Whether I do or not, it's not any of your business. What _does_ matter is that he is a teammate. And teammates stick together."

He slumped, turned around, and walked dejectedly out of sight.

Jinx watched him leave, her thoughts and emotions a violent storm of uncertainty.

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**Across the world, in a mountain fortress near the Yangtze River in China**

The dim room, though narrow, was long, and gave the impression of a throne room. Carved, decorated pillars lined both sides, casting dark shadows on the walls behind them. The shadows flickered slightly, the source of light causing them being torches hung on the self-same pillars.

At one end of the grand hall was a wide set of stairs terminating in what could only be a throne. At least, the man sitting in the carved marble seat treated it that way. This man was dressed in black from head to toe, the only sign of color being the blood-red ribbons hanging from the tops of his shoulders, and the silver staff in his left hand.

He held this weapon almost as a king would hold his scepter, or perhaps as a wizard would hold his most valuable instrument.

His face was inscrutable, being entirely masked behind a dark veil. Not even his eyes were visible.

Someone else entered the hall from the end opposite the throne and began making his way across. His slow, unhurried steps against the stone echoed off the distant ceiling, a ceiling high enough to remain hidden from the light.

The man walked up the steps until he was level with the throne's occupant, who rose to meet him, and offered him his hand.

"Slade. It's been a while."

The newcomer, whose face was masked, accepted the hand, shaking it firmly with his own. "Indeed it has, Gladio."

Releasing his guest's hand, Gladio sat down once more, laying his staff across the arms of the chair. "So, what news do you bring from your far city?"

"The Titans remain unchanged," answered Slade. "Their leader, Robin, steadfastly refuses to become my apprentice, the ungrateful boy." A bit of an edge entered his voice at those words. "However, there is something else…"

"Yes?" Gladio prompted when his partner didn't immediately elaborate.

"Just before I left, there was a small battle, between the two sets of immortals."

Gladio was silent for a moment, considering this. "Who won?" he finally asked.

"It is not important. What is more interesting is one of the mortals who participated in it. He is not as skilled as Robin, but I believe he would be more amenable to our way of life."

Gladio tilted his head slightly. "What makes you say that?"

"He was with a group known as the HIVE, a mercenary group well-known for their thieving ways. And before you ask, I don't think we could recruit the rest of them. They are very costly to hire, and don't enjoy taking orders from others."

He fell silent, letting the other man consider this latest information. After a lengthy silence, Gladio spoke once more. "What do you recommend?"

"That we observe, and don't interfere with his development until the time is right."

"Our Waterbending operative has fled and is presently being pursued by her sister, so currently, you are our only source of information in Jump City. Would you mind being the observer?"

Slade's one visible eye narrowed, and if he had been a cat, his tail would have been twitching. "I would be delighted."



_I certainly got the shock of my life when I discovered just who had captured me. What I had thought to be another band of heroes in fact turned out to something else entirely, certainly something that was _not_ on the same side as the Titans. But that comes of leaping before you look, I suppose. I should have listened more to my mother, and asked questions before getting entangled in something I didn't understand. By then, though, my options were limited. I felt it was too late to back out of the HIVE gracefully. Some other solution had to be reached…_



**More A/N's:** Whew! I _finally_ finished this chapter, and quite a lengthy one at that. In fact, I believe it's my longest chapter to date.

Sorry, **Tsukikage1213, **this was the best I could do for introducing your characters—a mention, if not an actual appearance. A bit more has to happen before Elm can finally meet them. Again, sorry.

And the chapter title may be a slight stretch, but I couldn't think of anything better.


End file.
